Let Me Start: Last minute deal

US President Barack Obama makes a statement about fiscal cliff negotiations from the White House December 31, 2012 in Washington, DC. Lawmakers in Washington...

Brendan Smialowski/AFP

The House joined the Senate and passed legislation late last night that averts the fiscal cliff. The vote was 257-167, with 151 Republicans voting against. Throughout the tense day yesterday, conservative Republicans led by Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Whip Kevin McCarthy, threatened to amend the deal – which passed the Senate early yesterday morning – a move that would have likely killed it. In the end, Cantor and McCarthy were among the nays, but House Speaker John Boehner and failed GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan voted to pass it.

Not out of the woods: Still, the deal only sets up what promises to be a bloodier battle in just weeks.

Disappointed liberals say President Obama gave too much away in the deal, while the bill is a bitter pill for the Tea Party wing of the House to swallow.

Global Markets React: Markets rose early Wednesday in response to the House vote. Had the House failed to pass the measure, today’s news from Wall Street and markets around the world would have been devastating.

Woman Power: New Hampshire becomes the first state to send an all-female delegation to Washington. And it has a new female governor as well.

Doctors expect Hillary Clinton to make a full recovery after discovering a blood clot near her brain. Check out Kathleen Parker’s article on the right-wing’s rush to judge Hillary’s health as just an excuse to get out of testifying on the Benghazi attack.